On Oct. 5, 1962, the first Bond film, Dr. No, hit theaters. Five decades and 22 films later, the spy has been immortalized as a legendary screen hero. TIME has compiled the most interesting stories, anecdotes and tidbits from the franchise

The Bond-Broccoli Connection

Albert Broccoli, known as Cubby, was a producer of 17 James Bond films — but one of the most interesting things about him has nothing to do with Bond. Broccoli (1909–1996) got started in the film business as a mailroom worker at Twentieth Century Fox and eventually, after serving in World War II, formed his own production company. He and co-producer Harry Saltzman, who had an option on the film rights to the Bond movies, founded Eon Productions, the company that would make all of the “official” Bond films,in 1961. But, before all that, Broccoli worked on the family farm where he grew up. And yes, that’s Broccoli as in broccoli: according to family lore, Cubby’s uncle brought the first broccoli to America around 1870.